The present invention relates to fire arms safety, and more particularly, this invention relates to a disabling or an inhibit arrangement for weapons, such as personal weapons, which renders the weapon unusable unless predetermined identification indicia of its authorized user are satisfied. The invention also is able to operate conversely wherein the weapon is placed in an operating mode by the arrangement.
Over concern of the number of deaths caused by fire arms, such as personal small arms, from accidental shootings and unauthorized use of law enforcement arms against their authorized users in certain situations, there is a clear need for an arrangement in such weapons enabling use only by authorized personnel.
Such concerns as entailed in the use of firearms in civilian settings by unauthorized people, e.g. firearms stolen, or the unsupervised use by minors, are examples of situations with violent and/or tragic outcomes.
Such an arrangement should employ a variety of technologies rather than a unitary approach. It will comprise a family of electronic and/or mechanical devices whereby firearms possessed by users are afforded the benefit of new and emerging technologies in rendering such arrangements reasonably safe from unauthorized use.The arrangement will include either (1) a user recognition capability, one in which the arrangement augments the existing safety arrangement and enables the firing of the weapon by only the designated user(s), or (2) a locking device whereby the firearm is accessible only to those possessing a key, code, or other enabling identification methodology.
Presently firearms are useable by whoever possesses them. This includes violent perpetrators, hapless children, and the unskilled curious. Since firearms have as a central part of their object the killing or destruction of a target (often legitimately warranted), the implementation of any safety technology should not obviate or significantly impair the primary function of the firearm. Safety features have traditionally been a component part of firearm physical architecture. Therefore, the augmentation of mechanical and/or electronic safety devices continues as an improvement in firearm safety.
Such an arrangement shall be operable in the same scenarios (law enforcement and civilian), as are presently owned firearms. This includes all current terms and conditions of firearms usage and environmentally driven conditions. The performance, capabilities and characteristics of an inhibit arrangement are as follows:(1) The user-only small arms arrangement performance will either interrupt the firing capability of the firearm by electronic or mechanical means should an unauthorized user take possession of the firearm. The arrangement must rapidly and accurately be able to positively identify the authorized User(s) and deny use to all others.
The arrangement should provide, as a threshold, the authorized user(s) the capability to employ the firearm in a timely manner (equal to or better than existing firearms).
It is important that the arrangement configuration have a size and weight which will not inhibit, or cause undue hardship for, the authorized user(s).
Capabilities of such an arrangement required may have application within the military especially in areas such as operations other than war and law enforcement and/or peacekeeping missions (e.g. for the disabling of lost or stolen weapons, and/or the identification of friend or foe). For the law enforcement application, the arrangement will offer the potential to mitigate the effects of incidences in which the law enforcement official has their weapon forcibly taken from them and used against their person and/or fellow personnel or innocent bystanders. Additionally, the arrangement will help alleviate firearm safety deficiencies involving the misuse of civilian sector firearms by children or other unauthorized personnel.
Such an arrangement will employ a variety of technologies rather than a unitary approach. It will comprise a family of electronic and/or mechanical devices whereby firearms possessed by users are afforded the benefit of new and emerging technologies in rendering such arrangements reasonably safe from unauthorized use.The arrangement will include either (1) a user recognition capability, one in which the arrangement augments the existing safety arrangement and enables the firing of the weapon by only the designated user(s), or (2) a locking device whereby the firearm is accessible only to those possessing a key, code, or other enabling and identifying methodology.
The law enforcement community (Federal, state, and local) routinely carry on their person, and/or store, small arms as part of their daily activities. Law enforcement officers must be prepared to respond to a variety of crises, during which there is the ever-present possibility that their firearm might be forcibly taken from them. In this incidence, the automatic deactivation of their firearm (once it is separated from their authorized user) is key to survival during armed encounters. As regards the private ownership of firearms, technologies might be able to render the firearm a safer arrangement than is presently the case, but cannot replace the cognitive functions and the judgment of the operator. Moreover, the imposition of technological driven safeties must not be perceived as a replacement for firearm training and/or responsible behavior on the part of any firearm owner. Private firearm ownership entails a wide variety of traditional usages (e.g. hunting, target shooting, collecting, and self-defense), the mode entailing the greatest extremes shall be the metric for determining reliability: self-defense.
Law enforcement personnel are tasked to perform non-tactical routine activities, although these tend to be specific in nature, they can involve encounters with violent “suspects who shoot”. When involved in such confrontations, the law enforcement officer may have their firearm taken away by the suspect with a better than 40-60% chance that the suspect will attempt to shoot the law enforcement officer.
The following information is applicable to both law enforcement and civilian operations. The mean-rounds-between-failure will not be less than the unencumbered firearm itself. Overall the arrangement reliability should be demonstrated at a high confidence level. The arrangement will be capable of effective employment under harsh environmental conditions. This includes extremes of temperature, moisture, contaminants, and visibility. The operation of the arrangement cannot be degraded by any of these environmental conditions to the point that it cannot be effectively employed for its intended purpose. The arrangement will be required to operate in environments where temperatures may vary from 40 degrees to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Operations within this threshold temperature range must also successfully contend with direct exposure to hazardous weather conditions (e.g., rain, snow, mud, salt water immersion, salt fog exposure, solar radiation, etc.).